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FAO-904-2016 (O&M) -1-

IN THE HIGH COURT OF PUNJAB AND HARYANA

AT CHANDIGARH

Decided on : 20.12.2019

FAO-904-2016 (O&M)

Sangeeta Singh ...... Appellant

Versus

Ravi Ranjan Prasad Singh ...... Respondent

FAO-899-2016 (O&M)

Sangeeta Singh ...... Appellant

Versus

Ravi Ranjan Prasad Singh ...... Respondent

CORAM : HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE RAJAN GUPTA

HON'BLE MRS. JUSTICE MANJARI NEHRU KAUL

Argued by : Mr. Vimal Kirti Singh, Advocate

for the appellant.

Mr. H.S.Dahiya, Advocate

for respondent.
****

Manjari Nehru Kaul, J.

This order will dispose of above-said two appeals filed by the

wife – Sangeeta Singh against the decree of divorce granted vide dated

01.10.2015 under Section 13 (1) (ia) of the Hindu Marriage Act, 1955 (for

short 'the Act') as well as the dismissal of the petition filed by her under

Section 9 of the Act by the District Judge, Family Court, Gurgaon. The

facts of the case are being taken from FAO No.904 of 2016.

2. The instant appeal has been preferred by the wife – Sangeeta

Singh against the judgment and decree dated 01.10.2015 passed by District

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Judge, Family Court, Gurgaon whereby the petition filed by the husband –

Ravi Ranjan Prasad Singh under Section 13 (1) (ia) of the Hindu Marriage

Act, 1955 (for short 'the Act') was allowed.

3. Few facts necessary for adjudication of the instant appeal as

pleaded in the petition filed by the respondent-husband before the learned

Court below may be noticed.

Marriage between the parties was solemnized on 05.05.1992

according to the Hindu rites and ceremonies. Two daughters were born out

of the said wedlock. It was pleaded by the respondent-husband that the

appellant-wife was not only arrogant, ill tempered and of a quarrelsome

nature but was also a drunkard and heavy smoker, who would refuse to

discharge her marital duties towards him. She would not take interest in the

household work claiming that it was a job of the servants. Whenever the

parents of the respondent-husband visited them, the appellant-wife would

create ugly scenes as a result of which the parents would be compelled to

leave the house within a few days. She was taking regular medication for

treatment of her mental ailments, a fact which came to his knowledge much

later. She did not refrain from smoking and drinking even during her

pregnancy. She would neglect her children as a result of which the major

responsibility of the household work as well as care of the children had to

be shouldered by the respondent-husband. He put up with the misbehaviour

of the appellant-wife for more than 15 years. When the respondent-husband

was transferred to Gurgaon in February, 2006, the relations between the

spouses deteriorated even further. Under the influence of her relatives, the

appellant-wife started humiliating and harassing the respondent-husband

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even more and severed all conjugal relations. Her unbecoming behaviour

had an adverse impact on their children. On 08.04.2010, she picked up a

quarrel with the respondent-husband at 9.00 pm and when he tried to reason

with her, he was subjected to physical assault by her. On the same day at

about 10.45 pm, about 10-15 policemen from two different police stations

barged into their house at the behest of a relative of the appellant-wife, who

was a bureaucrat. The policemen informed the respondent-husband that a

complaint had been made to the Protection Officer on 29.03.2010 in

Gurgaon. The Protection Officer disbelieved the version of the respondent-

husband and instead asked him to give maintenance to the appellant-wife.

On 19.04.2010, he moved a complaint to the Joint Commissioner of Police

against the Protection Officer whereupon the parties were directed to appear

before the Women's Cell on 23.04.2010. The appellant-wife refused to

appear as a result of which the Protection Officer continued to harass the

respondent-husband. In order to save himself from false implication, the

respondent-husband left the house on 27.04.2010 but the Protection Officer

continued to threaten him. While leaving the house, he was compelled to

take his elder daughter with him as his wife was cruel to her and the child

apprehended torture in her father's absence. While leaving, he also took

along his personal belongings i.e. clothes and books and handed over a

cheque of Rs.5,000/- besides providing the grocery to the appellant-wife.

He informed the appellant-wife that he would continue to meet all the

monthly expenses including that of the rent, electricity bills etc. The cheque

given to the appellant-wife was not encashed by her and when he sent

money through his elder daughter, she refused to accept it. The respondent-

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husband and his elder daughter thereafter started residing in a separate

accommodation where his mother joined to take care both of them. The

elder daughter kept in touch with the appellant-wife and the younger

daughter. It was further pleaded that he had to seek anticipatory bail and it

was thereafter that he returned to his house on 21.05.2010. The appellant-

wife instituted a petition under Section 125 Cr.PC. With the passage of

time, the behaviour of the appellant-wife worsened and she filed a petition

under the Domestic Violence Act on false allegations. Interim maintenance

was awarded to the appellant-wife and the younger daughter. Meanwhile,

the parties vacated flat No.103 and shifted to flat No.303 in the same

housing society. The behaviour of the appellant-wife remained the same as

before. She yet again filed a false complaint to the police on 06.10.2010 in

pursuance to which the respondent-husband was taken to the police station.

However, no action was taken against him. The respondent-husband

pleaded that in the aforementioned circumstances it had become impossible

for him to live with the appellant-wife as their marriage had completely

broken down and therefore, he had been left with no other option but to

shift with his elder daughter in the adjoining housing society.

4. On the contrary, the appellant-wife in her written statement

filed before the Court below, refuted and denied all the allegations of the

respondent-husband. She submitted that she was a well accomplished

person with a sound and sober mind. It was, in fact, the respondent-

husband, who was ill-tempered and consumed by his vices. He would

indulge in abusive behaviour under the influence of alcohol and would not

hesitate to get violent. He would not even give her enough money for her

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personal and domestic expenditure as a result of which she had to always

ask her parents for financial assistance, which was a cause of huge

embarrassment for her. The behaviour of the respondent-husband worsened

after the death of her elder brother in June, 1994 as there was no one to give

her the much needed support since her father kept ill. When she narrated

the circumstances to her father-in-law, she was threatened by the

respondent-husband with dire consequences. On one occasion, she was hit

hard on her forehead by the respondent-husband for which she had to be

rushed to a hospital in Kanpur where she received 8 stitches. At the

insistence of her mother-in-law, she conceived again against her wishes but

the moment her mother-in-law and the respondent-husband found out that it

was a female foetus, they wanted to get her pregnancy aborted. After her

father-in-law's death in 2006, parties shifted to Gurgaon where her mother-

in-law started visiting them very frequently and would not hesitate to

humiliate and harass her. On 08.04.2010, she was assaulted by the

respondent-husband as a result of which she reported the matter to the

police but it was on the intervention of the relatives, she did not press the

charges. The appellant-wife alleged that the respondent-husband was living

a life of luxury while on the other hand, she had been left to the mercy of

her mother. The respondent-husband never paid a single penny towards the

household expenses nor towards the education of the younger daughter.

The appellant-wife alleged that it was in fact the respondent-husband, who

had deserted her and the younger daughter on 29.04.2010 and returned on

21.05.2010 but left again on 02.10.2010 without caring to inform her of his

whereabouts.

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5. From the pleadings of the parties, following issues were framed

by the learned trial Court:

1. Whether the petitioner is entitled for a decree of divorce

on the grounds as mentioned in the petition? OPP

2. Relief.

6. Both the parties adduced evidence in support of their respective

stands. The respondent-husband himself stepped into the witness box as

PW-1. Besides himself, he examined his elder daughter Sangh Rakshita as

PW-2 and mother namely Lajwanti Singh as PW-3. On the other hand,

appellant-wife stepped into the witness box as RW-1 and examined her

younger daughter Sangh Nehita as RW-2.

7. On an analysis of the evidence led, the trial Court allowed the

petition filed by the respondent-husband and dissolved the marriage

between the parties.

8. We have heard learned counsel for the parties and perused the

evidence as well as other material available on record.

9. Learned counsel for the appellant-wife has strenuously

contended that the trial court gravely erred in believing the allegations of

cruelty levelled against her by the respondent-husband in the absence of any

cogent much less convincing evidence adduced in support thereof by him.

It has further been contended that the family court for reasons very strange

chose to place complete reliance on the deposition and testimony of elder

daughter namely Sangh Rakshita, who stepped into the witness box as PW-2

and for reasons best known to the court discarded the entire testimony of the

younger daughter, who stepped into the witness box as RW-2 by holding

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that the younger daughter's version appeared to be a tutored one. It was

contended that a perusal of the comparative testimonies of both the

daughters, who stepped into the witness box as PW-2 and RW-2 left no

manner of doubt that in fact it was the elder daughter Sangh Rakshita-PW-2,

who parroted the version of her father for reasons but obvious. While

drawing the attention of this Court to the averments of the respondent-

husband that the appellant-wife was taking some medicines for mental

ailment, the same too was not supported by any shred of evidence, which in

turn lent credence to her stand that he was levelling false allegations against

her.

10. Learned counsel for the respondent-husband reiterated and

maintained the stand as taken by the husband before the Court below.

11. It would be pertinent to mention that during the pendency of

the instant appeal, the parties were referred to Mediation and Conciliation

Centre of this Court to explore the possibility of an amicable settlement,

however, it failed to yield any positive result.

12. Since no precise definition of 'cruelty' has been given in the

Act, a satisfaction shall have to be derived at, by the court, that the conduct

of the appellant-wife was such that it had become intolerable for the

respondent-husband to suffer any longer and thus, making it impossible for

them to live together. However, the same shall have to be judged and

satisfaction arrived at, after taking into account the gravity of the conduct

complained of coupled with the fact whether the intention of the appellant-

wife was to inflict pain and agony on the respondent-husband.

In the instant case, learned court below gave a finding in favour

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of the respondent-husband by believing the testimony of elder daughter

Sangh Rakshita PW-2 and holding that the conduct of the appellant-wife

towards not only the respondent-husband but also towards her mother-in-

law and the servants was inappropriate and cruel for which the respondent-

husband was entitled to a decree of divorce. It is indeed very strange that

the family court chose to believe the version putforth by the elder daughter

PW-2 and rejected the younger daughter's testimony by holding it to be a

tutored version. In fact on reappraisal of the deposition of the younger

daughter Sangh Nehita – RW-2 it comes across as a very spontaneous and

natural testimony wherein she has not spit out any venom against the father

but has only answered in a very child-like and innocent manner to the

questions, which were put to her by the Court itself. It would be pertinent to

notice that whatever has been stated by RW-2 Sangh Nehita was on the

basis of questions put to her by the court and not on the examination-in-

chief done on her by her counsel. In such a situation for the court to hold

that her version is a tutored one, does not depict a judicious approach.

Learned court thus, erred in brushing aside the testimony of RW-1 in one

stroke of pen as being a tortured version particularly when there was hardly

any reliable evidence led to substantiate the allegations of the respondent-

husband that the appellant-wife was a drunkard and a smoker, who would

indulge in unruly and uncalled for behaviour. Nevertheless, even the cross-

examination, which was done on the young girl RW-2 Sangh Nehita, who at

that time was about 14 years of age, in our considered opinion was a rather

aggressive one yet the young child withstood the test of cross-examination

by her consistent testimony from which an inference can safely be derived

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that in fact her testimony was most truthful and natural, without any

pressure much less it being a tutored one. In fact it is the testimony of the

elder daughter, who appeared as PW-2, which raises eyebrows and appears

to be tutored to a great extent. The testimony of the elder daughter PW-2

Sangh Rakshita that the appellant-wife (mother) would force her to go and

fetch cigarettes and liquor for her consumption when she was in class 3rd or

4th and many-a-times, when she went to fetch them, she was eve-teased on

the way, comes across as totally unbelievable and unacceptable. It is

strange how the family court chose to believe the testimony of PW-2 Sangh

Rakshita because no shop would ever sell cigarettes and liquor to a child as

young as in class 3rd or 4th. From this part of her testimony, it is clearly

discernible that she has chosen to parrot her father's version. Rather on a

perusal of the testimonies of both respondent-husband and PW-2 Sangh

Rakshita, it conclusively stands proved that the respondent-husband used to

keep liquor at home and was also a frequent consumer of the same. In view

of this admitted fact, the version of not only the appellant-wife but also RW-

2 Sangh Nehita that the respondent-husband would under the influence of

liquor indulge in abusive behaviour appeals to reason and comes across as

believable. This fact finds corroboration from the testimony of RW-2

Sangh Nehita, who on being examined by the court deposed that the fights

between the parents would often happen when her mother would stop her

father from drinking.

13. It is very apparent that the respondent-husband has left no stone

unturned to level allegations of all kinds and tried to churn out a case

against the appellant-wife but on a minute and thread bare perusal of the

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evidence on record, the version of the appellant-wife of being a victim of

ill-treatment and domestic violence at the hands of the respondent-husband

is clearly discernible. Even if we accept the version of the respondent-

husband that the appellant-wife reported against him to the Protection

Officer and thereafter the policemen came to his house or he was summoned

to the police station, it just goes to reflect and rather corroborates her

version of being subjected to acute cruelty and torture leaving her with no

other option but to seek the help of the authorities. Further, the allegations

of the respondent-husband that the appellant-wife was under medication for

some mental ailment too is nothing but just another example of levelling of

sweeping allegations against her, not supported by any shred of evidence.

Further, the conduct and attitude of the respondent-husband in sending

messages to his younger daughter (Annexure A dated 13.08.2015) that he

would be unable to provide her tuition fees reflects on his callous and

unbecoming behaviour as a father. It clearly reflects to the blatant

discrimination that he had been and has been indulging in viz-a-viz both his

daughters i.e. PW-2 Sangh Rakshita and RW-2 Sangh Nehita.

14. As a sequel to the above discussion, we are inclined to accept

the instant appeal and set aside the impugned judgment and decree dated

01.10.2015 passed by the Court below.

Consequently, the present appeal stands allowed.

15. Adverting to the appeal filed against the dismissal of the

petition under Section 9 of the Act, the factual matrix is more or less the

same. The respondent-husband has reiterated his allegations and

maintained the same stand as taken by him in the petition filed under

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Section 13 (1)(1a) of the Act.

16. In view of our detailed findings as already given above, the

impugned order under Section 9 of the Act also deserves to be set aside.

It need not be over emphasised that it is the cardinal rule of

matrimonial law that the spouses are entitled to consortium of each other.

Adverting to the case in hand, in the facts and circumstances,

the appellant-wife has a right in law to seek restitution of the marital ties

from the respondent-husband as it is evident that the respondent-husband

has withdrawn from her society without any sufficient and reasonable cause.

Even if, we accept that the respondent-husband moved out and started

staying separately on account of her lodging a complaint under Domestic

Violence Act, she cannot be faulted with on that count. It is not hard to

discern that she had been pushed against the wall by the husband's own

misconduct leaving her with no other option but to seek protection from the

authorities. The lament of the respondent-husband that it was on account of

the appellant-wife's misconduct he had to shift out is unacceptable as he

comes across the erring party. The appellant-wife could not have been

expected to endure the husband's cruel treatment till blue in the face.

Consequently, the impugned order dated 01.10.2015 passed by

the Family Court, Gurgaon is set aside and the present appeal stands

allowed. Decree-sheet be prepared accordingly.

(RAJAN GUPTA) (MANJARI NEHRU KAUL)

JUDGE JUDGE

20.12.2019
sonia Whether speaking/non-speaking: Yes
Whether reportable : Yes

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